Nigello

Can we be sure that the police are *always* being deployed sensibly? I sometimes see what I think is an OTT response to relatively small incidents (4 vehicles, eight officers for an RTA, officers patrolling in threes) and wonder why this is the case. Would a national police force make better sense, or the amalgamation of certain forces to save resources? And, before I get shouted down, I acknowledge that all the services do very good jobs and should be applauded for their efforts and that I know people working in different police forces.)

Trying to imagine how a blind or partially sighted person copes, were they to accidentally stray onto it. I've had some close shaves there, as it's easy to forget. If only more people thought like this. It is really easy to forget that some people are infirm/poor of sight or hard of hearing so that is what feeds annoyances like pavement-cycling/overgrown bushes etc. Hopefully threads like this will persuade people to think about others less able-bodied.

I know about it (from here) - but Rye Lane is such chaos everyone just makes do. >>> Maybe it is because everyone is just making do that it is such chaos? Discuss! (Bad planning is at least partly to blame, making it hard for people to know who should go which in turn leads to a "sod it" attitude and lack of care as regards other people, IMHO.)

It is sad and tragic and loathsome and wicked and fascist and savage and venal and lots of other things, but I am afraid it is not shocking. Part of me is glad the three reprobates are dead but I would prefer that they lived for at least long enough to be of use to the police and other authorities.

But you cannot stop people being offended - it rests with the offendee, not the offender, so how can you guarantee you won't be doing exactly what you grandly claim to be avoding? Why not stop the - lengthy and baffling - thread on the cemeteries on that basis, because plenty of people have got their knickers in a knot over issues that it has raised. Similarly, some people are very offended when their political party is criticised, but such posts are not taken down. Please don't censor on the grounds of "niceness" - you'll only end up damaging yourself and others in the process. I agree with P Tatchell's approach - let people have their say even if it goes completely against your very being, let alone point of view.

Poor show by Admin - nothing in that post was worthy of being banned. People are allowed to be offended and to offend, whether talking about religion, Iceland, price of a pint, poor service at Le Chandelier (RIP) or whether or not Louisa is persona non grata. Plenty of stuff on here can be seen as "unpleasant" but it doesn't get pulled. 0/10

Two trees have been damaged (looks like branch on each was pulled off, but not completely) on Silvester Road, so have reported it. Any other trees damaged, please report here: [email protected] .

Not SE22 or SE15, but The Pigeon Hole cafe on Datchelor Place, Camberwell is really good and very reasonable. You can sit outside in a really quiet mini-square with trees and flowers.

Where was the bat? I have yet to see one anywhere in and around SE22/15/21 but would love to.

how do I know this person isn't some crazy individual who will attack me? - You don't but it is highly unlikely, so don't buy into the "everyone is a threat" rubbish. It is precisely this kind of reticence that allows the dickheads to seemingly get away with acting anti-socially.

Much better to approach the person in question and have your say there and then rather than report it here as a vent a while later. I get that you may want to warn others, though.

My point was, Seabag, that it is entirely right for those who *have* to use wheels to use the pavement, not those who choose to.

Peering out of the top deck of the 12 about 1930 today 6 out of 7 cyclists (male, "fast" cycles) pedalled over the pedestrian crossing at Peckham library and cut the corner, despite there being plenty of pedestrians. The one who didn't wasn't entirely committed to using the (admittedly badly designed) cycle path that skirts the corner and finally joins up with the camouflaged and too-thin cycle lane. No collisions but not right.

Although the word "pedestrian" cannot mean those who use wheels to get about (wheelchairs or mobility scooters) don't forget about this minority that uses the pavement to get around.

No, but it is selfish to do something that is illegal and potentially dangerous and then use the "but I have special permission - according to myself - to do so because I am doing it to protect my children even though I have no real need to teach them to ride on the pavement when there are plenty of parks nearby".

Adults riding on pavements alongside their offspring is annoying and particularly selfish, using the safety (kind of justifiably) of their kids as a protection against criticism.

I liked Duck Egg. I often went early and got good service and nice food, once even on the house. It is a shame it's gone. Wonder what will be there next?

My question over the state of the turf has not had an answer. It was a real churned-up mess over winter. Does the money raised by the events held there go to - in part - its reseeding/returfing?

PM me re bands, if interested (though I think they would want to be paid in ??, not patties).

I spoke to him as he was making it: fascinating and self-effacing and much nicer in all ways than the lowlife who tagged his art.

I like the idea that people should be safe but I also like the idea that councils should not indulge in overkill (to pardon any pun). You could argue that 12m could be better than 10m as, well, it's more, isn't it? So why not just do the minimum. It is like that foolish requirement to check the ID of anyone under 25 when the law allows you to buy cigarettes or booze many years earlier. I think there is either a spoken or unspoken rule to make car driving so frustrating for drivers that they just give up - and I speak as a pedestrian/transport user with asthma. If 7.5m is OK, then let's go with that and let someone park where it is safe - the remanding 2.5m.

I did what Siousxiesue did. Don't see why we need another layer of bureaucracy where laws exist already (and why they want to know about whether I've changed gender or my age is baffling).

Would you, titchjuicy, be OK with the judge doing exactly the same to a promising, female Chinese or black, etc. student, one that isn't tainted with "WMCP"? If you remove the colour and class, are there no other privileges to be taken into account (such as, perhaps, the privilege of being naturally academic or the privilege of having parents that are especially invested in your education even if they are poor or even the privilege of having been born in the right time and the right place to allow you to even consider to go to college)?

I think that it is less to do with colour and sex and more to do with "promise". Judges will have been through the academic grind, perhaps hving attended Oxbridge and other top unis as part of their training, and will sympathise with people they consider to be too promising to tarnish with a custodial sentence in their early years.

John Lewis, all the way. Go and have a lie down on several of them and get the very good people there to check out the way you are lying: they'll pass their hands under your waist and neck etc. to make sure the mattress is supporting you correctly. I went twice, spending a good thirty minutes there talking and testing each time before I went for a great, own-brand mattress (which I then un-purchased and rebought online as there was a special offer on their website).